Just got my Samsung PN50C550 on Wednesday. Set looks amazing especially going from an 11 year old 32" RCA CRT to this High Def Beauty. I am still in the break in period but even with everything turned down the set looks incredible (Battle Field Bad Company 2, I think I wet my self). I would also Like to report that I have "NO BUZZING"

Let me know any settings I need to change or check and also any other questions you may have about the set. Keep it simple though I'm an HD Noob.

Just wanted to make notice, I'm new to the forum, but have visited on a couple occasions. I've been trying to decide on a new television for about 6 months now. I'm to the point where I just need to pick something up now, and had thought I wanted a new Panny. Well much like everybody else, I'm not touching them till the whole Black Level thing is sorted out (not likely?). I'm thinking I have made my mind up, and I'm almost completely set on picking up a new Samsung. I notice only positive things being said, and also the "buzzing issues" sound as if they aren't as big of a factor anymore?

I was thinking about picking up one of the newer Samsung Plasmas, specifically the new one showing up at Best Buy: PN50C550G1F (can't post the link)

Wondering how the C550 was as well.
I noticed HH Gregg got them in this week.

Looked pretty nice in the store.

Somebody mentioned in another thread that the C550 doesn't have a calibration mode.
Does this mean it can't be calibrated ?

Absolutely not. This tv can definitely be calibrated. All that means is that it doesn't have the full color controls for each primary and secondary. The grayscale, gamma, etc are still fully calibratable.

I just purchased a 50C590 at a local electronics chain here, and was curious what settings you all were using.

They didn't have the C550 setup there, but the C590 was setup right next to a Panny 50G20. After watching them both for a while, I decided that everything about the Samsung was better - picture, styling, and price

And as for the question about black line/spacers, I did not notice anything like this on the display model, but will keep a look out for it when my set is delivered later this week.

The C550 I saw at BB didn't have any weird lines or "spacers". Up close, looked like a normal 1080p TV to me. I won't comment on the PQ because it was fed a poor feed under the nuclear lights of BB. Of course it didn't look very impressive, because the C550 has a poor filter.

Well after "sleeping on it" I think I'm going to hold out on returning the c550 for now. I don't see what good exchanging for another one at BB is going to do. I'm sure they are all from the same production run. No point in playing the swapping game now. I have 30 days. I'm going to hold off for a few weeks for either a newer production run of the c550 and try the swap or see what other models come out by then. Any suggestions or thoughts on this?

Other than the buzz I like the tv. It looks great in my living room. Last night I watched a variety of material and formats SDTV, 1080i&720p HDTV, PS3 1080p games, 24fps Bluray, and some 1080P AVCHD .mts clips. I have only calibrated the set using the AVS forum disc, but my first impression of the picture quality is just meh. I'm upgrading from a 30' Sony 1080i tube and was expecting to be blown away. Obviously size aside, the picture seems, soft I guess. It seems like the depth and the detail I've seen on other sets isn't there. Blacks are very good. Hopefully when some other peoples settings start popping up I can improve the pq. As it stands right now with the loud buzz and the unimpressive pq, I will be exchanging for something else.

Wondering how the C550 was as well.
I noticed HH Gregg got them in this week.

Looked pretty nice in the store.

Somebody mentioned in another thread that the C550 doesn't have a calibration mode.
Does this mean it can't be calibrated ?

It doesn't have a full CMS. Any TV can be "calibrated" but without a CMS a professional ISF calibrator or hobbyist with the correct instraments will not be able to precisely adjust the color. The result will still be good enough for most.

Ok got the new panel in, still no buzz. Had some bad IR from the DirecTV programming page after less than 5 min, but running the scroll and watching some HD content for a couple of hours cleaned that up.

Who has some suggestions on break-in settings? I have it on Movie mode right now which seems to be pretty dim, but I am def open to suggestions.

Just set up the new 58C550 yesterday and had it running for approximately 5 hrs. No buzz, at least not yet, and no dead pixels. Played around with the picture settings just a bit, adjusting by eye for now. PQ on HD is great, as expected. What I didn't expect was the generally good PQ on SD material. I streamed an old B&W movie (Fellini's 8 1/2) from Netflix and I was really surprised at how it looked.

The 550 does NOT have Cinema Source option -- manual says that's only on 590 models. I wonder if the service menu trick for the B series will still work with the new model. I might try it down the road.

just got a 58c550 about a week ago. Looks great ,very vibrant color. Waiting for some picture settings that people rec. ,I am new to plasma. On a side note ,I came home from work and my g/f had left the spiderman3 blu ray menu on for about an hour or so !!lol. I turned it off and there has been 2 slight lines on the bottom when viewed on scroll or with bright lights. Seems pretty sensitive to IR. Hopefully with 100% full screen viewing and all levels turned low it will leave the screen soon .
Has anyone else had this happen ,and how long till it is 100% gone from the screen ?
Other than that I love the tv ,the buzz is very, very quiet .With volume at 12-15 or so it is unaudible .